Synopsis
Margaret Mitchell died in 1949, having ordered the destruction of her personal papers. But a new manuscript has surfaced, hidden in the papers of Henry Love Angel, her lifelong friend. Written when Mitchell was sixteen, LOST LAYSEN is the story of honor and unrequited love in the South Pacific. The story is complemented by letters from Mitchell to Angel and photographs of the two of them, which reveal the roots of the long-lost story.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1996-05-01 | | Editor: | Debra Freer |
| Size | | Length: | 127 pages | | Height: | 10.0 in | | Width: | 5.8 in | | Thickness: | 0.8 in | | Weight: | 12.8 oz |
Publisher's Note
The world saw only one book by Margaret Mitchell published in her lifetime, the incomparable GONE WITH THE WIND, the most popular novel in American history. Upon her death in 1949, her personal papers, almost all other writing, and even the original typescript of GONE WITH THE WIND were destroyed. Now sixty years later, the impossible has happened: The world has another story from Margaret Mitchell. Better still, it's a delight, a fitting predecessor to America's most beloved epic novel.
A spirited tale of love and honor on a doomed South Pacific island called Laysen, LOST LAYSEN would be justly praised as a charming effort by a remarkable young talent if it were its author's only work. But it isn't, of course, and LOST LAYSEN also enchants because of the many fascinating ways it foretells GONE WITH THE WIND; in its two central male characters, one a gentleman and the other more roughen, who vie for the attention of a feisty, independent-minded woman, and who will go to any lengths to defend her honor; in its re-creation of a vanished world; and in its unforgettable ending.
The real-life romance at the heart of LOST LAYSEN'S discovery is as enthralling as my work of fiction. Margaret Mitchell gave the story, handwritten in two lined notebooks, to a young suitor, Henry Love Angel. Angel put the notebooks away for safekeeping, just as he put away all of Mitchell's intimate letters to him, as well as their treasured photographs taken over the years. Well over half a century passed before Henry Love Angel's son, realizing what had been passed down to him, brought the story, the letters, and the photos to Atlanta's Road to Tara Museum. Nationally respected Margaret Mitchell historian Debra Freer masterfully weaves Margaret Mitchell's never-before-seen letters and photographs into a fascinating introduction that tells the story of Mitchell's relationship with Henry Love Angel and puts the writing of LOST LAYSEN into its proper context.
LOST LAYSEN is pure magic, a gift for us to cherish from America's most beloved storyteller.
Industry Reviews
This recently discovered tale of love in the South Pacific, published to coincide with the 60th anniversary of Gone with the Wind, was written when Mitchell was 16.
Breitman
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